L'Enfant De La Forêt
This week we start our Terminus episodes! Michael had the opportunity to talk to Perturbator in a hotel lobby up in in Calgary. They talked about border hassles, metal fans loving outrun, the ease of being alone, and wait times on record releases.
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A day late, but we promise, we have all of our dollars! Poltergeists is a biweekly feature in which Michael and Wes share tracks that they have had on repeat over the past two weeks.
I can’t get enough of the new FLESH (Audiotrauma) song, “SKIN,” from the forthcoming album of the same name. It is a nice mix of dance electronics and noise. There are a lot of interesting sounds in there and it gets me moving in my seat - which, these days, is a must for this style of music. If you are an avid reader, you already know that I buy pretty much anything that Audiotrauma puts out, but it is for a good reason! The pre-order for this album is up now on their bandcamp, and if the tracks from the “Black Walk EP” are any indicator, it is going to be a great album. If you have a minute definitely jump over to their facebook page for some videos from the recent live performances. You will not be sorry! Not many bands of this ilk go out of their way to put on a full live performance, with interactive elements and stage performers, and it pays off in the creepiest way.
While I have my dancing shoes on already, I may as well throw on some MOSH and get fucking going on that floor. With the rise of outrun and the evolution of electronic music in recent years, it is nice to hear someone who keeps to that nice and dirty dance sound. I like this song because it keeps a nice pumping bass line that is pretty funky, and subtle, but has a lot of brief glimpses into noisy moments. This is another song that I found recently and have been grooving to all day. It is from 2012’s “Monarchy” full length.
It took me a minute to get fully into Barrow. Their sound is fairly raw, and at first, I thought that it felt a little underproduced rather than intentional. The more I listen to it though, the more the raw sounds of the bass grumbling under melancholic guitar riffs creeped into my skull.
I think this particular song highlights how, even with a fairly raw sound, Barrow manages to weld together post-hardcore influences with the largeness of sound brought by post-rock influences. They move expertly between emotional, hammering riffs, and slow, almost ambient guitar riffs that open up into this lulling swells. It gets into you, and it doesn’t let go.
I’ve written about L'Enfant De La Forêt before, and now that the full length is out I’ve been bumping it so often it would be entirely breaking the spirit to not write about it. This album is great. Really great. James Kent (also known for his outrun project Perturbator) has a serious talent for building these amazing atmospheres in his music. In “Flowers of Flesh and Bones” you get these wonderful sense of some impending darkness right away; the slowly plucking synth and ambient soundscapes starts to build a sense of curious dread. These sounds are joined by music boxes, then deep bass and wonderfully programmed drums. You go from this image of a shadow in the dark, to seeing full on what the darkness has in store for you. Go check out the full album; it’s well worth the listen.
Poltergeists is a biweekly feature in which Michael and Wes share tracks that they have had on repeat over the past two weeks.
“I will not be swayed from curiosity.” I feel such a huge wave of wanderlust sweeping over me, as I start a new path in my life, and strive to make a place for my own personality again after so many months of feeling bummed out and stuck by the scene that we all rant about - not to mention my own life decisions. This song encapsulates everything that I am feeling at the moment. I feel old. I feel like I have stuck myself in a chair, looking out the window at a bright world flashing by in seconds. It makes me want to get up and leave in the best way that I could ever imagine. “I want to see myself that way just one more time.”
I found Cœur de Pirate (Pirate Heart) by searching the “French” tag in Bandcamp because apparently I have francophilia lately. I really like the soundtrack quality of this somber piece. The entire album is like this. It is really beautiful music and I feel a strong connection with it. I would encourage you to take a listen if you really like instrumental pieces or soundtrack music.
I kind of got off my outrun kick a while ago. The genre seemed to be getting overinflated with boring cyberpunk tracks that all sounded like too close of variations on a theme, and not enough original, interesting takes on the theme; alternatively, it was going hard on Stallone, when I wanted Carpenter.
I don’t think that S U R V I V E self labels as outrun, and maybe that’s why their music seems to speak to me a little easier that most outrun these days. The beat is constant, unflinching four on the floor, with just these little plucks of bass and lead playing away at your ears. There’s nothing aggressive about it, at least not aggressive the in way that Carpenter Brut or Perturbator might be. It just pulls you along with its little plucks and morphing pads, rife with analog drift. “Hourglass” is night drive music at its best.
Speaking of Perturbator! It was always clear to me that James Kent had some very clear industrial influences in Perturbator, and through his side-project L'Enfant De La Forêt he is letting those influences show through a little more.
“The Birth of All Evil” is an excellent example of Kent’s talents at building atmosphere; this talent, I believe, is the key to his success with Perturbator, and it arguably shows through more evidently in L’Enfant. When you strip away the outrun excess of Perturbator, you’re left with haunting textures morphing into each other. It gets you moving to the edge of your seat, waiting to hear what happens next. If Perturbator is a soundtrack for a Johnny Mnemonic style thriller, L’Enfant De La Forêt is more Bladerunner; it gets into your head.